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Jean-Éric Vergne
|birthplace = Pontoise, France |death date = |placeofdeath = |nationality = |status = Test driver Driving in Formula E |currentteam = |currentcar = |firstrace = 2012 Australian Grand Prix |firstwin = |lastrace = 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |lastwin = |2013Pos = 15th |2013Pts = 13 }} Jean-Éric Vergne ( ; born 25 April 1990 in Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, Île-de-France, France) is a French Formula One driver. He is currently a test driver for . He drives the number 25 car. He made his début for in . His highest position finish was 6th in the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix, breaking his highest finish record from Monaco. He left the team in as the team take on two new drivers. Pre-Formula One Karting Vergne began karting aged four at his dad's kart circuit, which is located near Paris. He entered his first karting competition in 2000 and was a French Champion in 2001 in the minimes (children's) category. In 2004, he finished as runner-up in the French Rotax Max Championship, and a year later was runner-up in the Intercontinental A (ICA) class of the European Championship (the champion in the class being James Calado). In 2006, he came seventh in the premier KF1 World Championship. Formula Renault 1.6 Formula Renault 2.0 2008 2009 British Formula Three GP3 Series Formula Renault 3.5 2010 2011 Formula One Career Red Bull and Toro Rosso test driver In , Vergne was a test driver for both and . He took part in three practice sessions for the latter team, replacing Jaime Alguersuari at the and Sébastien Buemi at the final two races of the season in Abu Dhabi and Brazil. He completed the 13th-fastest time in India, the 11th-best time Abu Dhabi (only a quarter of a second slower than Alguersuari) and the 18th-best time in Brazil. At the 2011 Young Driver Test, Vergne was chosen to drive all three days for Red Bull. Vergne distinguished himself by setting the fastest time on all three days, well ahead of the rest of the field on all three days. Scuderia Toro Rosso 2012 It was announced on 14 December 2011 that Vergne was to drive for Scuderia Toro Rosso, along with his new teammate, Australian Daniel Ricciardo, for the 2012 season. The pair replaced Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari. In his first race, the Australian GP, Vergne was running eleventh before the last lap. Despite Pastor Maldonado crashing, and Nico Rosberg slowing, Vergne was unable to score his first point after a race to the line involving Vergne, teammate Ricciardo, Sergio Pérez and Paul di Resta went badly for him, and he was passed by both Ricciardo and di Resta; and with Pérez was already ahead, Vergne finished eleventh. In the next race, the Malaysian GP, Vergne managed to score his first points, four for 8th place in a crazy race. In Monaco, Vergne pitted early, and managed to bring himself up to seventh. But with rain threatening, Vergne changed to intermediate tyres. As a result, he fell to eleventh, and then, with the rain not persisting, Vergne started losing a lot of time, which at its best was three seconds off the pace. He was overtaken by Pérez and finished twelfth. This could have been worse, had Heikki Kovalainen and Jenson Button not collided, which forced Kovalainen to pit and Button to retire. It was likely that the pair would have overtaken him. At the , Vergne collided with Kovalainen, giving them both punctures. Vergne had to retire as a result of the collision. He was then handed a ten-place grid penalty for the next race at Silverstone, and a €25,000 fine for driving dangerously with a puncture. The , Vergne (and Ricciardo) were able to take advantage of the chaos that Romain Grosjean caused at the start. Vergne finished eighth and Ricciardo came in a few seconds behind in ninth. Then, at the , Vergne suffered a freak accident on lap nine, as his suspension broke during braking for the first chicane. Completely unable to control the car, he crashed out. Then at the next race in Singapore, Vergne was hit by Michael Schumacher after the first safety car period. The German had locked up all four of his wheels and Vergne was the unfortuanate driver in his path. Vergne had a strong race in Korea, along with Ricciardo. With a car set up for the race, Vergne quailified poorly but was able to make up places while working effectively in tandem behind his teammate. Ricciardo was having issues toward the final few laps of the race, and Vergne overtook his teammate for eighth place. In the final race in Brazil, Vergne was able to take advantage of the crazy race to finish in a strong eighth place. He finished 17th in the Championship, beating teammate Ricciardo by six points. 2013 Vergne was retained by for , alongside teammate Daniel Ricciardo. After performing better in 2012, Vergne was given no. 1 status in terms of car numbers within the team. He started the season well in Australia. After a promising qualifying turned sour, Vergne managed to bring himself into the point-scoring positions before being overtaken in the last few laps. In the next race in Malaysia, Vergne overcame and poor grid position and poor start to score a single point for tenth, fighting off Valtteri Bottas for the position. At the , Vergne suffered from a poor start which he never recovered from. In the fourth race, the , Vergne was caught up in a collision at the start with Adrian Sutil and Giedo van der Garde. The Frenchman was forced to retire after damage caused by the puncture obtained in the collision. In the , Vergne was involved in a collision with Nico Hülkenberg in the pit lane, the damage from which he was forced to eventually retire from. As for the , Vergne got into Q3, and qualified tenth. He spent the majority of the race there, and after Kimi Räikkönen was forced to pit and Sergio Pérez retired, Vergne finished eighth. Canada was even better. In the changing conditions, Vergne qualified a career best seventh, and proceeded to spend nearly the entirety of his race in sixth place, where he finished, for his highest ever finish. The , sadly, would end this run of form. Starting twelfth, Vergne spectacularly had his left-rear tyre blowout on the Hangar Straight while being chased by both es. For the third race this season, Vergne eventually retired due to damage to his car which was of no fault of his own. As the calendar went to Germany, so did Vergne's bad luck. After qualifying an unimpressive 16th (ten places down on teammate Ricciardo), Vergne retired at around one-third distance with hydraulics failure. At the , Vergne drove half a day for as a tyre tester for Pirelli on the final day, setting the seventh-best time of the day. This time, however, was substantially slower than the times set by Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz, Jr. the previous day. Vergne's was largely uneventful, however, for the next race, in Belgium, Vergne, like teammate Ricciardo, failed to get out of the first qualifying session. Vergne went on to finish twelfth. A week before the , it was announced that Ricciardo had been promoted to the second seat after Mark Webber's retirement. Vergne was not considered for the role. For the actual Italian race, Vergne's luck did not improve, as he suffered transmission failure 15 laps into the race while the Frenchman was running ninth. For the , Vergne had an average race, being unable to profit from the safety car caused by teammate Ricciardo. The next race resulted in a late retirement with brake issues. The race after that, the , was largely uneventful, and Vergne finished twelfth. On 21 October, it was announced that Vergne was to continue driving at Toro Rosso for the third consecutive season, alongside new teammate Daniil Kvyat. In India, Vergne was one of three drivers to pit on the first lap of the first lap of the race, and he lead an uneventful race to finish thirteenth. Vergne's Abu Dhabi race was more eventful. Attempting a one-stop strategy, Vergne pitted late on lap 17. With 15 laps remaining, all was well, as Vergne was in seventh, however, his tyres couldn't hold out, falling down the order, and unintentionally forcing Fernando Alonso off track when the Spaniard entered the track following his pit stop. Eventually, having fallen to 14th, Toro Rosso pitted him, and Vergne crossed the line 17th. At the , the highlight of Vergne's race was a collision with Esteban Gutiérrez, which earned the Frenchman a twenty-second penalty and pushed him down from 12th to 16th. At the final race of the season, in Brazil, Vergne qualifying eighth in the difficult conditions, but endured a disappointing race to finish 15th. Vergne's final championship position was 15th, seven points down on Ricciardo. 2014 Vergne took part in the 2013 Pirelli Tyre Test, alongside new teammate Daniil Kvyat. In testing, both and new engine supplier struggled to adapt to the new regulations. At the first race, many of these issues were resolved, and Vergne qualified impressively in sixth. His race was not as successful, but he managed to complete the distance in ninth place. In the summer break, it was confirmed that Vergne was to lose his seat to Max Verstappen, and on 26 November Vergne left the team. He joined the Formula E team for the , taking Pole Position on début and almost winning, but for a last-lap suspension failure while leading. Ferrari test driver On 19 December 2014, it was confirmed that Vergne will be a test driver for the team alongside Esteban Gutiérrez. Formula One Statistical Overview F1 Career Record Statistics Correct as of the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Career Results || | |—|—}} |16th|14th|12th|12th|15th| |14th|14th|16th| | | |13th| |15th|12th| | |16|17th}} |12th| | | | | | |12th|12th| |14th|18th|12th|13th|17th|16th|15th|13|15th}} | | |12th| | | | | |13th| |12th|13th| | |13th| |13th|12th|22|13th}} Notes Category:French Drivers Category:2012 Début Drivers Category:Toro Rosso Drivers Category:Ferrari Drivers Category:Jean-Éric Vergne Category:1990 births Category:Living people